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Books > Humanities > Archaeology > General
This book constitutes a major reassessment of the mortuary remains
from the two X-Group royal cemeteries at Qustul and Ballana in
Lower Nubia (c. AD 380-500). Since their excavation more than
seventy years ago, and the subsequent flooding of the sites
following the building of the Aswan High Dam, and despite the
spectacular nature of the finds, the sites have received remarkably
little scholarly attention. This book offers the first
interpretation of social life at these key sites, and proposes a
series of innovative, theoretically informed frames for exploring
the significance of the material remains found there. In doing so,
it sheds new light on a culture which, although less well known
than the Meroitic Empire that preceded it and the subsequent
development of the Christian Kingdoms of the Sudan, is nevertheless
of considerable archaeological and historical significance. The
sites present a series of archaeologically unique monumental tumuli
and multi-chambered tomb structures containing evidence of human
and animal sacrifice, as well as a highly sophisticated material
culture. The interpretations presented here draw on the emergent
field of sensory archaeology to address the key issue of identity
formation. It makes a case for the heretofore unrecognised
significance of an 'aesthetic' identity mediated by material
culture. It approaches X-Group culture as a materially complex
indigenous culture that created and altered identities through time
via the manipulation of materials, colours and patterns (the
'aesthetic' basis of identity). This study explores the
relationships between humans, animals, and artefacts. It
demonstrates how a less stable society, which based control on
aggressive public displays, became a more stable state, as power
was mediated by magico-ritual performances, festal occasions, and
the rise of certain individuals. The interpretations put forward
here are based on a systematic quantitative analysis of the
archaeological material from the sites. These analyses draw on
complex typologies differentiating objects according to use, ware,
colour, decoration method, designs, surface finish, contents,
grafitto, location in a tomb, location near a body, etc. Such a
quantification and synthesis of tens of thousands of individual
pieces of data enabled the identification of key trends in the
dataset--the empirical basis for the modelling of socio-political
change undertaken here. The study was undertaken to combat the
limited and unsatisfactory set of questions posed by previous
debates about the activities at Qustul and Ballana. It constitutes
a significant departure from previous work which restricted the
discussion of life at the sites to a limited debate about the
identity of tribal groups and the chronology of activity at the
sites. In contrast, this research demonstrates that the way in
which the X-Group(s) dynamically created, maintained, and altered
their identity through various forms of praxis. The book is
essential reading for anybody researching ancient Sudanese
civilisations. It has a wider appeal for researchers and graduate
students interested in new developments in approaches to the
archaeology of North-East Africa. It also has a broader appeal to
all those interested in the theorisation of identity, the practical
application of archaeological theory to the study of material
culture and the human relationship to the sensory nature of the
sensory world.
Profusley illustrated with full color and black and white
illustrations, maps and photographs. Center of Military History
publication CMH Pub. 30-21. Army Historical Series. Richard W.
Stewart, General Editor. Revision of the 1989 edition which was a
revision of a textbook written for the senior ROTC courses.
Contains an historical survey of the organization and
accomplishments of the United States Army. Designed to inculcate in
young officers and soldiers an awareness of our nation's military
past and to demonstrate to them that the study of military history
is an essential ingredient in leadership development. Intended
primarily for use in the American Military History course in the
Reserve Officers' Training Corps program in civilian colleges and
universities.
During the fall of 1968 and the summer of 1969, William Kelso
conducted archaeological excavations at the site of
eighteenth-century ruins at Wormslow, near Savannah, Georgia.
Historical records indicated that the ruins were the remains of
Fort Wimberly, most likely constructed by Noble Jones, an original
settler of Georgia. Records further suggested that Fort Wimberly
had been constructed on the site of Jones's earlier fortification,
a timber guardhouse known as Jones's Fort, built in 1739 and 1740.
The existence of these two structures, built at different times on
the same location, made possible an archaeological study of two
periods of Georgia coastal fortifications. The earlier was built as
a major link in General James Oglethorpe's chain of defenses
against the Spanish threat from Florida in the 1740s and the later
presumably was built to repel the French. The project also
presented another important opportunity--the chance to define what
effect the semitropical, hostile border environment of colonial
Georgia had on the plantation development scheme of at least one
English settler. Mr. Kelso's report of his excavations begins with
a documentary history of Wormslow, followed by a presentation of
the archaeological evidence that correlates it with the historical
documents. Ultimately he reconstructs the site based on the
historical and archaeological evidence, an architectural study of
the ruins, and information about early Georgia architecture in
general and other eighteenth-century buildings in particular. The
report concludes with a detailed study of the artifacts with
illustrations, descriptions, and identifications of the important
pieces.
In 2017, DNA tests revealed to the collective shock of many
scholars that a Viking warrior in a high-status grave in Birka,
Sweden, was actually a woman. The Real Valkyrie weaves together
archaeology, history and literature to reinvent her life and times,
showing that Viking women had more power and agency than historians
have imagined. Nancy Marie Brown links the Birka warrior, whom she
names Hervor, to Viking trading towns and to their great trade
route east to Byzantium and beyond. She imagines Hervor's
adventures intersecting with larger-than-life but real women,
including Queen Gunnhild Mother-of-Kings, the Viking leader known
as the Red Girl, and Queen Olga of Kyiv. Hervor's short, dramatic
life shows that much of what we have taken as truth about women in
the Viking Age is based not on data but on nineteenth-century
Victorian biases. Rather than holding the household keys, Viking
women in history, the sagas, poetry and myth carry weapons. In this
compelling narrative, Brown brings the world of those valkyries and
shield-maids to vivid life.
Students of human behavior have always been interested in the
relationship between human populations and their environment.
Decades of research not only have illuminated the backdrop against
which culture is viewed, but have identi fied many of the
conditions that influence or promote technological develop ment,
social transformation, and economic reorganization. It has become
in creaSingly evident, however, that if we are to explore more
forcefully the linkages between culture and environment, a
processual orientation is required. This is found in human
ecology-the study of the relationship between people and the
ecosystem of which they are a part. This book is a collection of
papers about the recent and distant past by scientists and
humanists involved in the study of human ecology in northeastern
North America. The authors critically examine the systemic
interface between people and their environment first by identifying
the indicators of that rela tionship (e.g., historical
documentation, archaeological site patterning, faunal remains),
then by defining the processes by which change in one part of the
ecosystem affects other parts (e.g., by conSidering how an ecotonal
gradient affects biotic communities over time), and finally by
explicating the behavioral implications thereof."
This practical volume, the first book in the Manuals in
Archaeological Method, Theory and Technique series, examines in
detail the factors that affect archaeological detectability in
surveys whose methods range from visual to remote sensing in land,
underwater, and intertidal zones - furnishing a comprehensive
treatment of prospection, parameter estimation, model building, and
detection of spatial structure.
What is the archaeology of the body and how can it change the
way we experience the past? This book, one of the first to appear
on the subject, records and evaluates the emergence of this new
direction of cross-disciplinary research, and examines the
potential of incorporating some of its insights into archaeology.
It will be of interest to students, researchers, and teachers in
archaeology, as well as in cognate disciplines such as anthropology
and history.
The last 20 years have witnessed a proliferation of new approaches
in archaeolog ical data recovery, analysis, and theory building
that incorporate both new forms of information and new methods for
investigating them. The growing importance of survey has meant an
expansion of the spatial realm of traditional archaeological data
recovery and analysis from its traditional focus on specific
locations on the landscape-archaeological sites-to the
incorporation of data both on-site and off-site from across
extensive regions. Evolving survey methods have led to experiments
with nonsite and distributional data recovery as well as the
critical evaluation of the definition and role of archaeological
sites in data recovery and analysis. In both survey and excavation,
the geomorphological analysis of land scapes has become
increasingly important in the analysis of archaeological ma
terials. Ethnoarchaeology-the use of ethnography to sharpen
archaeological understanding of cultural and natural formation
processes-has concentrated study on the formation processes
underlying the content and structure of archae ological deposits.
These actualistic studies consider patterns of deposition at the
site level and the material results of human organization at the
regional scale. Ethnoarchaeological approaches have also affected
research in theoretical ways by expanding investigation into the
nature and organization of systems of land use per se, thus
providing direction for further study of the material results of
those systems."
Flashes in the Night captures the tragic story of the sinking of
M/S Estonia in dark, cold Baltic waters on September 28, 1994.
Caught in a storm during an overnight trip between Tallinn,
Estonia, and Stockholm, Sweden, the ship sank in a matter of
minutes. Debate continues over whether the cause was structural or
sabotage, but the fact remains 852 souls were lost at sea in
Europe's worst civilian disaster. Nearly one-third of those who
escaped the ship died of hypothermia. A twenty-nine-year-old
Swedish entrepreneur and a pretty nineteen-year-old Swedish girl
are a major focus of this dramatic account. On that night when Kent
Harstedt met Sara Hedrenius on the top rail of the sinking ship,
they made a date for dinner in Stockholm-if they survived. Through
that endless darkness, huddled in near-freezing water in their
raft, they told each other jokes to stay awake and alive. Their
date made world headlines. This is their story, and the story of
the young British adventurer Paul Barney, along with riveting
accounts of others who were a part of this harrowing life-or-death
survival epic.
Documentary filmmaker Peter Pepe and historical archaeologist
Joseph W. Zarzynski provide a concise guide to filmmaking designed
to help archaeologists navigate the unfamiliar world of documentary
film. They offer a step-by-step description of the process of
making a documentary, everything from initial pitches to production
companies to final cuts in the editing. Using examples from their
own award-winning documentaries, they focus on the needs of the
archaeologist: Where do you fit in the project? What is expected of
you? How can you help your documentarian partner? The authors
provide guidance on finding funding, establishing budgets, writing
scripts, interviewing, and numerous other tasks required to produce
and distribute a film. Whether you intend to sell a special to
National Geographic or churn out a brief clip to run at the local
museum, read this book before you start.
In this unique volume, archaeologists examine the changing economic
structure of trade in North America over a period of 6,000 years.
Organined by geographical and chronological divisions, each chapter
focuses on trade in one of nine regions from the Arachiac through
the late prehistoric period. Each contribution explores neighboring
areas to llustrate the complexity of North American exchange. By
charting the econmic structure of these regions, archaeologists,
economic anthropologists, and economic geographers gain greater
insight into the dynamics of North American trade and exchange on a
continental wide basis.
There are many ways to study pots or the sherds of pots. In this
book James Skibo has focused on the surface wear and tear found on
the resin-coated, low-fired cooking pots of the Kalinga people in
north western Luzon. This detailed analysis is part of a much
larger evalua tion of Kalinga pottery production and use by the
staff members and students at the University of Arizona that has
been underway since 1972. Here he has analyzed the variants among
the possible residual clues on pots that have endured the stresses
of having been used for cooking meat and vegetables or rice;
standing on supports in the hearth fire; wall scrapings while
distributing the food; being transported to the water source for
thorough washing and scrubbing; followed by storage until needed
again-a repetitive pattern of use. This well-controlled study made
use of new pots provided for cooking purposes to one Kalinga
household, as well as those pots carefully observed in other
households-- 189 pots in all. Such an ethnoarchaeological approach
is not unlike follOwing the course of the firing of a kiln-load of
pots in other cultures, and then purchasing the entire product of
this firing for analysis. Other important aspects of this Kalinga
study are the chemical analysis of extracts from the ware to deduce
the nature of the food cooked in them, and the experimental study
of soot deposited on cooking vessels when they are in use."
This innovative collection of essays from an international range of
contributors describes various means of preserving, protecting and
presenting vital cultural resources within the context of economic
development, competing claims of "ownership" of particular cultural
resources, modern uses of structures and space, and other aspects
of late twentieth-century life.
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